News Round-up Week Ending 4 March 2016

March 5, 2016

March 5, 2016

Here’s a selection of some of the horror and genre news that caught our eye during the last week…

Stephen King Confirms The Dark Tower Movie In Production and Names Stars

Stephen King has confirmed via Twitter that his long gestating The Dark Tower movie adaptation is now in production. Not only that, the writer behind The Dark Tower has also confirmed that both Idris Elba (Prometheus, Luther) and Matthew McConaughey (A Time to Kill, True Detective) are on board as well. Elba is set to play the gunslinger “Roland Deschain” and McConaughey will be taking on the role of the villainous “Man in Black”. Director Nikolaj Arcel is attached, as well as Abbey Lee (Mad Max: Fury Road), cast in the role of Tirana. The film is currently set to release on January 13, 2017. This Is Horror will provide more information as it becomes available.

Among the Living Gets Home Entertainment Release March 7 (UK)

Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury (Inside, Livid, Leatherface) directed horror flick Among the Living is set to release on home entertainment formats this Monday March 7. Starring Anne Marivin, Theo Fernandez, Francis Renaud, and Damien Ferdel, the film is about a group of school kids that decide to skip class to check out an abandoned amusement park. Once there, they discover grisly crime scene, and a murderer wearing a clown mask. Fearing the man is going to come after them, the boys go to the police, who all but ignore their claims. The boy’s fears become reality when the murderer comes after them, and targets their families as well.

Call of Cthulhu Video Game Back on Track for 2017 Release

After falling off the radar for several months while under development by Frogwares, recently revealed screen captures have shown the H.P. Lovecraft themed role-playing game Call of Cthulhu is in fact still alive and that the games new developers Cyanide Studios are hard at work on it. Partnering with Focus Home Interactive, the RPG-Investigation style game promises relentless psychological horror combined with interactive stealth mechanics. Cyanide hopes to release the game for PC and consoles sometime in 2017.

‘Laugh or Die’ Season Begins on the Horror Channel

March 5 see the beginning of Horror Channels ‘Laugh or Die’ Season, starting with the UK TV premiere of Jon Wright’s GRABBERS and the network premiere of Jake West’s DOGHOUSE. Also featuring the network premiere of IDLE HANDS and ZOMBIE STRIPPERS starring Robert Englund and Jenna Jameson, the Horror Channel will be featuring a full roster of horror-comedies all month long.

Here’s the scheduled lineup:

Sat March 5 – GRABBERS (2012) UK TV Premiere

Sat March 12 – IDLE HANDS (1999) Network Premiere

Sat March 19 – ZOMBIE STRIPPERS (2008) Network Premiere

Sat March 26 – DOGHOUSE (2009) Network Premiere

As well as the above mentioned films, Horror Channel will be featuring the following regular horror films too:

Fri March 4 – THE CANAL (2014) UK TV Premiere

Fri March 25 – BLACK DEATH (2010) Network Premiere

The Hallow Set For UK VOD Release March 7

Anyone not lucky enough to have already caught the fantastic horror flick The Hallow during its successful run of festival screenings can now get a chance to do so when it is released on digital HD in the UK this Monday March 7. Coming from first-time writer-director Corin Hardy (who is set to direct the remake of The Crow) this tale of a family under attack by demonic creatures in a remote Irish location stars a cast of genre actors that includes Michael Smiley (Kill List, The Lobster, A Field In England). The Hallow will be available for download via iTunes as well as the usual digital outlets.

Cthulhu Mythos Ebook Bundle Available Now from Dark Regions Press

Dark Regions Press has announced its releases of the Cthulhu Mythos Ebook Bundle. Featuring ten DRM-free eBooks, the bundle also includes the retail debut of Dreams from the Witch House: Female Voices of Lovecraftian Horror. Stories by Thomas Ligotti, Neil Gaiman, Joyce Carol Oates, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Ramsey Campbell, T. E. D. Klein, Lois H. Gresh, W. H. Pugmire, Michael Shea and many more are all part of this bundle. Dark Regions Press has also announced their new Weird Fiction section of the DarkRegions.com website, showcasing the debut of several recently acquired titles. Dark Regions Press is an independent specialty publisher of horror, fantasy and science fiction based out of Portland, Oregon and has been in business since 1985.

Click HERE to get all the details and to order the Cthulhu Mythos Ebook Bundle.

Fire City: End of Days Comes to Home Video April 25 (UK)

Directed by Tom Woodruff Jr., the special effects wizard behind X-Men, Jumanji, Jurassic Park and Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice,Fire City: End of Days is coming to home video April 26. Starring Tobias Jelinek (Hocus Pocus) and Danielle Chuchran (The Cat in the Hat), Fire City: End of Days is a noirish fantasy thriller about a hard-boiled demon named Vine, who must investigate the appearance of a mysterious Dark Figure when the fragile balance is broken between the humans in his tenement and the demons who secretly live among them. As his fellow demons are attacked, Vine discovers he himself is the cause of the catastrophe and must choose between saving his own kind from extinction and killing an innocent human girl to whom he has become attached.

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